Well as of today, it is one year to the Olympic Winter Games in February 2010 in Vancouver and Whistler.

Most of the infrastructure is in place. The speed skating oval and most of the skiing venues are being used already.

Today they revealed the torch for the games – a most unusual looking device. Not exactly traditional…

There is a lot of controversy here in town about whether the Games are good for us or not, and you can put me down on record as being in favor of them. I think they will be an economic stimulus for the province, reaching areas the government never can with their stimulus packages.

Sure we’re likely to be carrying some debt, but I really think the Athlete’s Village will be a boon for the city in the long run. And I do think a bunch of the venues will be very well used after the Games are gone.

The speed skating oval, in Richmond, not Vancouver, is really something. It is clearly state of the art, with typically west coast architecture. I’m going to take a drive up there and check it out.

It was originally scheduled to be on UBC land, but I think there was a ruckus from the Native Indians because they claim the land, so they moved it over to Richmond. (I think that’s the story about the oval… certainly could be wrong about that.)